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Life at a Pokemon research lab was actually quite nice. The ‘subjects’ of the studies had free range of the twenty-five acre farm the lab was located on. If it got too hot outside, one could always duck into the sleeping pen for welcome shade. There was a large pond, healthy grasses, loads of berry bushes, many kinds of trees, and even a pile of rocks for Pokemon that liked that kind of thing. Since all the predators were fed regularly, there was never a worry about being eaten.

Bastiodon was quite certain that she had found paradise.

Sure, there were some bad points. There was the large energy field at the edge of the farm, marking off the limits of their lands. But that fence thing kept them secure too, so it was forgivable. And the scientists often pulled them inside for exams and tests. Some of those could get annoying, but she had figured out that if she cooperated, the whole ordeal would be over quicker. Among the other research Pokemon, there were some annoying individuals. That happened everywhere, even in this paradise.

She was currently the largest Pokemon at the research facility. Her body was short and bulky, but her rectangular face shield stood taller than the human researchers. However, the others had grown used to her and were not afraid. Bastiodon was a gentle one, even watching her steps carefully to make sure she didn’t crush any living creature.

On a warm and so far uneventful day, Bastiodon noted the other member of her research project walk by. She had been cloned from DNA found inside a fossil; so had Rampardos. The scientists said that they wanted to examine them as the first ones of their kind that humans had seen, before they gave permission for their kin to be recreated in the same manner. Which was good, Bastiodon supposed, as a third clone species had died early on. It hadn’t been able to live in the present environment.

Rampardos was violent from time to time, but the scientists saw no reason this should be a reason to get rid of him. He was also, well, not too bright. Sometimes he came up with clever stuff, but it was usually by accident. Bastiodon was sometimes annoyed by him and, on some level, knew that his kin had once preyed on hers. Having lived with him her entire life, she actually found herself fond of him. It wasn’t like he was going to eat her.

“Hey,” Rampardos called, walking over to her. “Can I ask you some questions?”

“Mmhmm,” she replied, as she was chewing on some grass. Since he didn’t reply immediately, she swallowed, then added, “What questions do you have?”

Clenching his small arms as he thought, he said, “Oh right that. Well some of the humans were talking about something and I want to test out what they said. Would you help?”

“I guess it depends on what you want to test,” she answered. If he hadn’t been a predator, she would have agreed to help immediately. Even as a friend, some caution was needed.

“Hmm, yeah. Anyhow, you know how I can tear great big trees right out of the ground, even when I’m running? Does that make me an unstoppable force?”

“It would be unwise to get in your way when you want something,” Bastiodon agreed.

Rampardos brightened in pride. “Yeah! Okay, so. On the other hand, if anyone tries to lift or push you out of the way, they would fail if you didn’t want to move. Would that make you an immovable object?”

“Well no one around here could make me move if I didn’t want to. Most of them ask nicely though, so I move on my own.”

“Great! Then I can test it.” Rampardos then put his head down against her shield and started pushing as hard as he could.

Bastiodon blinked. “What are you doing?”

“Seeing who was right. The scientists were saying something like, if you had an unstoppable force against an immovable object, which one would win? Would the force be stopped or would the object be moved?”

“Oh.” She considered it, watching him strain to get her to budge. “That’s unexpectedly intelligent of you.”

“Yeah! My brain may be small, but that doesn’t mean it’s no good!”

Chuckling, Bastiodon replied, “True enough.” Then she lowered her head to eat some more of the grass.

The movement caused Rampardos to slip and fall on his face. “Ow, hey! You’re supposed to be an immovable object!”

“You’re not moving me,” she replied around some blades of grass. “I moved myself. Keep trying, unstoppable force.”

“Right! I’ll move you!” Getting himself upright, he started pushing against her with his head and left shoulder. She could feel the spikes on his head, but felt no danger to her mask. So she kept eating.

To his credit, Rampardos didn’t give up easily. He kept trying to push her aside by putting all his strength against her shield mask. However, it was a shield. He would have an easier time at it if he tried pushing from another angle, at her regular body. That was armored too, but not as strongly as her front. But Bastiodon didn’t have to tell him that.

“No. I’m just resting. I know that I can do better than that. I am an unstoppable force! You can’t beat me in a shoving match.”

She wasn’t even trying. However, she didn’t feel like quashing his enthusiasm like that. “Okay, I’ll give you some time to rest. I’m going to head for the watering hole.” Then she turned herself around and began trudging towards the pond. She definitely wasn’t the fastest Pokemon around.

On the other hand, Rampardos could run at a good pace when he felt like it. He got back up after a break, then ran over towards the pond after her. Bastiodon still hadn’t made it when he caught up and then passed her. Arriving at the pond, he turned back towards her, spending a few minutes stepping about sideways.

“What is he doing now?” she wondered to herself, still continuing on her way. She watched as he found a spot he liked, then lowered his head. Next, he came charging right at her. Spooked by this predatory action, Bastiodon froze in place, bracing herself for the hit. Rampardos kept rushing.

KLONG!

Finding herself pretty much unhurt, she took a few more steps to where Rampardos had tumbled back to. “You all right?”

Chuckling, Bastiodon continued her walk to the pond. “You know, if the unstoppable force would just say please, I’m sure the immovable object with move aside politely.”

“No way! The unstoppable force is unstoppable! And I will prove it.” He took a deep breath. “After another rest. This science stuff is harder than I thought. Maybe I ought to leave it to the squishy-headed humans.”

“They may not be as tough, but they do have great minds,” Bastiodon agreed.

...

Rampardos HG/SS entry: Its skull withstands impacts of any magnitude. As a result, its brain never gets the chance to grow.

Bastiodon Diamond entry: Any frontal attack is repulsed. It is a docile Pokemon that feeds on grass and berries.

Pokedex OS- Still trying to capture every single Pokemon out there in words: 648/718 Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh complete!

And another one? Yup. While I was in the middle of the last one, I was struck with inspiration for a particular kind of Pokemon. However, I was limited on what would fit that need and I have covered several others already. Marill fit well, though.

The paved route seemed charged with great energy now as two Trainers faced off in heated battle. They stood to the side as the active Pokemon recovered from their moves or being hit. In the eyes of all participants, there was an excited glimmer from a chance to prove oneself strong. An orange weasel with a yellow float along his body pawed at the pavement in eagerness, while a rough tall boulder with arms and legs grinned and beckoned him to do his worst.

“Graveler, attack that squirt with full force!” one Trainer called, quite tense in frustration.

The other side looked more confident, flashing a grin at his opponent’s steady loss of self-control. “Floatzel, Aqua Jet!”

With those orders, this round was pretty much a foregone conclusion. As the Graveler lumbered over, clenching its fists, the Floatzel lowered his poise, then turned into a flash of liquid energy crashing into his foe. It knocked the former out so cleanly that the rock’s Pokeball recalled him before he hit the ground. Whooping a cheer, the Floatzel hopped onto his back paws and struck a pose for his teammate watching alongside the road.

The Marill squeaked a cheer and waved to him. But once his attention went to his next opponent, she fell back into worry. He was a good fighter and she had seen him win many times. She had fought alongside him many times. But then, she had also seen him lose, and had lost with him. It was so hard to battle after seeing her dear Floatzel lose. Especially lately; they had grown so close.

And especially when she’d fallen into the season where she was looking for a life partner to bond with.

Even after Floatzel had won for their Trainer, Marill still felt anxious. She was thinking about the kind of child she wanted to raise. Her first egg could hatch a Marill like herself. Overall, that was good. The child would be able to live independently within its first week if it were a Marill. And it would be able to battle for their Trainer, or another human if traded. Really, she wouldn’t mind a trade of her child if that child were a Marill.

However, she really wanted an Azurill child. That would be tougher. An Azurill child would be far more dependant on her, Floatzel, and their Trainer for care. It wouldn’t be able to live independently for at least a year. It wouldn’t be able to fight properly for months, and they’d have to watch it closer or else it would get hurt due to ignorant curiosity.

But that dependence was why she wanted an Azurill. Then she’d get a much better opportunity to be a mother. Marill wouldn’t get long to bond with her child if it were like herself. But if it were an Azurill, then Marill and Floatzel could love and teach the child for much longer. That would be so wonderful.

There were so many other things to worry about in concerns with her first egg too. Since their Trainer was active in the Pokemon League, she, Floatzel, and their potential child would be battling quite a lot. They traveled a lot too, so she couldn’t find a nice quiet river to lay her egg in either. That would be so wonderful though… to float her tail buoy on the surface while showing her little Azurill child how to dive down and fetch delicious greens that grew on the bottom of rivers, while Floatzel swam around and made sure the area was safe. It wouldn’t work like that, though. Oh, and since they encountered many Pokemon on their travels, it would be easier for her child to come into contact with a stranger and get sick as a result. That would be terrible for an Azurill.

So many things that could go wrong if her child was weak. Marill hugged herself, giving up on the dream of having an Azurill child for now. Perhaps later, sometime.

At the end of the day, Floatzel was in a great mood. He did notice that Marill was worried, and tried to cheer her up. He offered to clean behind her ears, gave her the first choice at dinner time, and cooed to her. When that didn’t seem to help, he gave her a flower… which made the Nurse Joy at the Pokecenter mad because he had stolen it from her desk vase. Their Trainer had to give it back.

Marill followed them back to their rented room, choosing to sit by the window. She could see the city pond from here, thankfully. Maybe if she lived in a pond like that, it would be okay to have an Azurill child. Even with lots of humans around them, it would be easy to see those looking to capture Pokemon and keep her baby away from them.

She noticed her Trainer sit by her before he patted her head. “Hey there girl. You’ve been really tense lately. Is something wrong?”

Giving a soft squeak of gratitude, she tried to reassure him that she was okay. There was nothing really wrong; she was just worried about the future. And who was to say that something wouldn’t change that future? She could still decline Floatzel and look for another partner. Or one of them could get traded.

“The nurse said you were fine and healthy,” he said. “But if something’s bothering you, you can talk with Floatzel about it. You two are good friends.”

That was true. And their human was a good one. He wouldn’t trade away her egg if she didn’t want to. With what he knew, he could take care of the little one too. Still, maybe not one so little as Azurill.

The young man scratched her head. “You’re still tense, though. I know. I think I’ve got something that’ll help you relax.” He leaned down to grab his bag and began digging through it.

What did he have in mind? She hopped closer to the edge of the table by the window, peering into the Trainer’s bag. It looked simple on the outside, but it held so much stuff on the inside. Sometimes, it was difficult to say what he was going to grab out of it. He had a knack for finding hidden stuff and stowing it away for later.

“Here we go.” He pulled out a small metal ball attached to a cord. While the bottom half was closed off, the top half was cut open with several slots. He tied it around her forehead, since her round body didn’t have a neck like other Pokemon. “I heard that this Sea Incense helps soothe Water Pokemon. It does smell nice. I just hadn’t thought to equip it to you yet.”

Looking up, she grabbed at it and brought the ball in front of her nose. It smelled of salt, sand, and kelp, like a quiet seashore somewhere far away. While she was born in the rivers, the sea had always held a fascination for her. One’s views under the river’s surface were limited to what lay within the banks, but one’s views under the sea’s surface would be almost unlimited, from shore to who knew where.

Marill smiled and thanked him for the gift. It was quite soothing. Maybe she was getting all worked up over nothing. Based on this and many other things, her human was kind and loving. Knowing that, she could feel safe in having an Azurill child.

That is, if her feelings towards Floatzel matched his feelings for her.

...

Marill Diamond entry: Using its tail as a float, it dives underwater. It likes eating plants that grow on river bottoms.

Pokedex OS- Still trying to capture every single Pokemon out there in words: 648/718 Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh complete!

I love these stories. They're so great! ^_^ If you don't mind, could I please make a request for piplup? I know I might have to wait for it, but in the meantime there are still awesome stories, so it doesn't really matter to me.

These were originally requested as a set of four with Sheildon, but I originally split them up. However, I managed to put the three of these together nicely.

In process: Wobbuffet
On Deck: Poochenya, Parasect, Piplup

Metang, Magnemite, and Registeel

A foreign energy entered the dusty halls of the dungeon: light. It chased away the darkness, causing some shy Pokemon to scurry away before the brightness touched them. By the light’s moving touch, one could see the yellow stone that had been carved away to form this place. Colorful pictures of life were on every wall space: strange letters, plants, Pokemon, humans, tools, landscapes. What had been recorded here? The builders had lived so very long ago.

As the light grew, its source appeared: a Pokemon of blue steel and four-clawed hands. The Metang drifted along the halls, hardly making a sound. She floated off the ground with a combination of her psychic efforts and manipulation of magnetic fields. Occasionally glancing at the pictures, she made her way deeper into the tomb-like dungeon. Was it a tomb? Or was it something completely different? Whatever it was, some people had found it very important.

She felt a disturbance in her magnetic fields. Something was trying to draw her in the wrong direction. Pausing, she glanced down a hallway in time to see something come fling right at her. With a solid ‘thonk’, it struck just below her right eye.

It turned out to be a smaller metal Pokemon, a Magnemite composed of one large eye and two horseshoe magnets. He was trembling, twitching his free magnet in fight. “Zzzroh zah.”

“Don’t worry, little Magnemite,” the Metang replied. “It would take a lot more than your minor weight to damage me. Besides, it wasn’t entirely your fault. You seem to have the Magnet Pull ability and haven’t mastered its use yet.”

“Zzzzrrrr,” he said, calming down but lowering his free magnet. He then attempted to break himself free by struggling away.

Pausing a moment, she willed herself not to get annoyed with this one. “You can do that. How old are you then, child?”

“Kzzt kzzibi.” Just hatched today, he had said. His eyelid lowered, then perked up in glee. “Za zerrr Zot! Zeezee kzzzt kzzz.”

That caused her to smile. “Ah, so you’ve named yourself Zot. That is clever. We are Ai-La.”

The hatchling closed his eyes to focus on trying to get detached. “Brzzz zit.”

“It’s fine, you’ll get it.” She went back on her way. “It’s probably better you stick by us. Where’s your family?”

That question caused his focus to break some. Zot started explaining that he had hatched and found lots of egg shell pieces around him. To his view, he was fairly certain the others had hatched, but left him alone for some reason. Ai-La thought it could have been an egg-eater or some similar predator, but didn’t want to upset him further.

“That’s too bad, that they left you behind because you were a late hatcher,” she told him instead. “But we’ve seen a group of your kind outside of this place. When we get out, we’ll take you to them.”

Zot cheered up to that and worked on getting himself free again. After a few more tries, he managed to push his magnetic fields against hers, causing him to float away. He still decided to tag along with her, asking where she was going among other questions.

“I’m searching for someone,” she answered. “Deep in this dungeon, it is said that a metal Pokemon like us stays away from the world. It is an immortal and its strength greatly exceeds ours.”

Twisting his magnets, Zot whistled in admiration. “Kzzzt?”

“Its name is Registeel. We hope that it is knowledgeable for we have some questions we want answers to. But we’ve not found another who could answer them.”

“Zot? Kzzt zzzrr rit.”

Ai-La blinked. “Yes, we are we. We were once two Beldum, Ai and La. When we evolved, we joined together. That is why our kind starts with short names, because they grow longer both in becoming a Metang and when we join with another Metang to form a Metagross. We will be four then. But that’s one question we have. We were eager to evolve and become stronger, but then we wondered it we were too fast.”

“Zzzzfit?”

“Yes, you will evolve too, in a similar fashion. You will join with two others to become a Magneton. So it would be good for you to come and listen, to know what lies ahead of you.”

“Kzzzt? Zzzri zrk ziif.”

Chuckling, she patted him. “What does it eat? We have no idea. It’s an immortal Pokemon, but we don’t know if it even eats. You could ask it that yourself.”

The Magnemite seemed intrigued, so he followed her further into the dungeon. Down a flight of stairs, they came upon a single large room. Ai-La’s Flash illuminated a great deal of space around them, but there was an edge of darkness where the light couldn’t reach. Just beyond it, there was a large still figure. It had a round body with long flat arms and cylindrical legs. At the touch of the foreign light, a few small glows appeared on Registeel’s body. It was alert to their presence.

“Bzzzzoo,” Zot said in awe, but then his magnets started shaking. As his eye went wide, they forced him to shoot forward and collide into Registeel, much like he had with Ai-La earlier. But the resounding ‘thock’ had echoes and a hallow sound. It wasn’t built the same as them. “Zrrrk,” the Magnemite said meekly, then worked on getting himself free.

“You’re not the first to do that,” Registeel said calmly, in an odd voice that was as hollow and echo-y as his body. “You have both come a long ways to meet with me. Welcome.”

Ai-La put her hands together. “Thank you for meeting with us, Master Registeel. We are Ai-La, and the hatchling here is Zot. We wanted to ask you some things, if it does not bother you.”

“Go ahead,” the immortal said, raising his arm up and patting the Magnemite child when he managed to get loose.

Pointing to herself, the Metang said, “We were two, but now we are one. But are we one individual or two? And is it really necessary for us, and Zot eventually, to assimilate another’s individuality to grow stronger? It does not seem right, yet that is what is done.”

“You are one individual with two histories,” Registeel said. “It is not necessary for you to say ‘we’, for you have fused together. But it is necessary for this fusing to take place. The both of you, your kinds start off like pure metals, with potential but not as strong as you could be. Pure metal must be fused with another metal in order to become a stronger alloy. The personality alloy that you will eventually become will be stronger and better than that which you have started as.”

“We…” Ai-La paused, “um, I had not thought of that. It still feels strange. Perhaps it just takes getting used to.”

“Kzzzzoo kzzt zzzrt zzif?” Zot asked, blinking his eye.

“Your family?” Registeel asked. It was quiet for a moment, then answered, “They have gone down a long road which you cannot follow.”

“Zzzzkt?” the Magnemite asked, sounding puzzled and not as spirited as before. His magnets drooped.

“You will be fine. Ai-La, would you watch over Zot? At least see him safely to his kind if you cannot take him in yourself.”

Then the child’s family was dead. Ai-La was impressed that Registeel knew his home so well that he knew of this. “I shall,” she agreed. “Some of his kind were outside of this place; we’ll talk about what to do after we find them.”

Zot drifted over to Ai-La. “Kzzzoooo,” he whispered, giving off a sparking tear.

…

Metang D/P/P entry: It is formed by two Beldum fusing together. Its steel body won’t be scratched if it collides with a jet.

Magnemite Emerald entry: The units at its sides are extremely powerful magnets. They generate enough magnetism to draw in iron objects from over 300 feet away.

Ruby entry: Registeel has a body that is harder than any kind of metal. Its body is apparently hollow. No one has any idea what this Pokemon eats.

Last edited by Ysavvryl; 10th August 2010 at 3:39 PM.

Pokedex OS- Still trying to capture every single Pokemon out there in words: 648/718 Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh complete!

The Bastiodon/Rampardos story was charming in a way, but i really like the insight you add with the third specimen not being able to live in the new enviornment.
And the idea of a metang wondering about it's own fusion evolution is just good writing.

Have you ever read the book "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry?
The name fusion of Ai-La reminds me of what they did in the book.
If you havent i recommend it yo.

I haven't read that particular Lowry book. So I'll have to go look for it now.

A short-ish one, but the idea wouldn't do well stretched out.

In Process: Poochenya
On Deck: Parasect, Piplup, Glameow/Piplup

Wobbuffet

The next part of the garden was interesting. Squared off by tall hedges, it had a circle in the middle defined by wedges of alternating muted red and yellow-green wedges. Low lying pink-flowering bushes set in the corners, while all four walls had arched doorways. And whether by design or accident, a Pokemon stood in the very center of the circle. He was a tall blue one, looking oddly like a punching bag. One would think the Pokemon would not invite attacks on themselves by looking like that.

Seemingly noticing her enter without opening his eyes, the Wobbuffet shuffled into a position to where he was facing her. He had strange jagged lips, like one might put on a jack-o’-lantern. That plus his closed eyes made it had to tell if he was scary, silly, or strange. But whatever he was, she had something else she was doing.

She checked the scavenger hunt list and noticed that one of the clues did point to a red and yellow circle. It didn’t mention the Wobbuffet, but that wasn’t too important. According to that clue, there was a small Bug Pokemon figurine to find in this ‘room’ of the maze. Where was it? She didn’t think it would be in the colored grasses. But maybe in the bushes. She knelt down and began examining the bushes.

As she moved around the bush, she noticed that the Wobbuffet kept watching her. It even shuffled a bit to constantly face her. That was pushing towards creepy and scary, she thought. So after examining one bush, she got back up and faced the Pokemon. “Um, why are you watching me? It kind of bugs me.” She wasn’t sure if the Pokemon could respond understandably.

But he could, though telepathy. “I’m not important,” he stated. “Just ignore me.”

“You keep turning to watch me, though.”

“It’s not important. Don’t mind me. Find your thing and move on.”

That was weird. But she wanted to win the scavenger hunt, so she moved to the next corner bush to check it for the figurine. As before, the Wobbuffet turned to keep facing her. It was very distracting. Maybe that was part of the challenge.

As she finished looking through the bush without finding anything, she heard a commotion from elsewhere in the garden maze. She looked up, but couldn’t see anything due to the thick tidy hedges. She did notice that the Wobbuffet was mumbling, tensing his flipper-like arms. After a second, he actually turned from her, to partly face her and partly face the doorway right near her.

A Geodude came rolling and bouncing in at high speeds. It bounded up and struck the Wobbuffet, causing his body to lean back. However, he never got knocked off his feet. Instead, he rebounded back upright quickly, launching the unfortunate Geodude back the way it came.

And the Geodude’s Trainer had come running after it. “Geo…!” the boy stopped, then rushed out of the way before the rocky Pokemon crashed into him. There was a noisy collision with a leafy hedge instead.

Worried, she got up and looked in the doorway. “Hey, you okay?”

The boy was sweating, clutching a Pokeball to his chest, his knuckles turning white. His eyes were still wide. But the question broke his panic enough for him to nod. “Y-yeah. That was close; how’d he change directions so fast?”

“That Wobbuffet,” she said, pointing into the particular room.

“Pay no mind to me,” he telepathed, sending out feelings of being as nervous as the boy. “I’m just waiting on someone.”

“Oh… okay,” the boy said, relaxing some. He pressed the button on the Pokeball in his hands, recalling the Geodude. “Phew. Oh hey, isn’t this where one of the items is? I gotta look.” He came in and searched the bush she had just looked in.

The Wobbuffet didn’t relax, though. She could tell by how he tried to figure out whether to face her or the boy. Looking at the two bushes she had left to search, she wondered how she could find the figurine without letting her competitor know. Unless the figurine wasn’t in the bushes.

She looked over where the blue Pokemon was. As she did, he noticed. “Don’t look near me,” he insisted.

Unfortunately, that got the boy’s attention. She went ahead and asked, just in case. “Well could I check the center of the room, though? I’m looking to find a secret.”

“There is no secret about my tail!” the Wobbuffet insisted. “So don’t go looking at it.”

She gave him a critical look. “Are you hiding the figurine under your tail? So you’re supposed to be here.”

“No, it’s not important. Don’t ask about my tail! That Ledyba figurine you’re looking for is over there, so go take its picture. But don’t take a picture of my tail, even though there’s absolutely nothing special about it.” Putting a lot of insistence to his words, he pointed to the bush she would have moved to next, near the further edge.

“Oh, thanks!” the boy said, going over to see. “But what’s… not special about your tail?”

“I said don’t ask about it!” he fussed. As he did, she could get a glance at his tail. It was black and flat, with a larger rounded end to it. It didn’t seem like anything special. But then why was the Wobbuffet so adamant about them not asking about his tail?

She went over and found the hidden Ledyba figurine, hanging near a cluster of pink flowers. After taking its picture, she left through the nearest arch, as it was a way she hadn’t been. And the boy followed soon after. Glancing back at the room, he said, “You know, I’ve never thought about a Wobbuffet’s tail before. But now I want to know why he didn’t want us to ask about it.”

She smirked. “Yeah, and now we’re not going to be able to stop wondering why. Rather counterproductive for keeping secrets, if you ask me.”

...

Wobbuffet D/P/P entry: It desperately tries to keep its black tail hidden. It is said to be proof the tail hides a secret.

Pokedex OS- Still trying to capture every single Pokemon out there in words: 648/718 Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh complete!

I think it just doesn't like its tail. So, now might be a good time for some requests.

In Process: Parasect
On Deck: Piplup, Glameow/Piplup

Poochenya

He stumbled against a rock facing, but decided to stop there. His breathing was heavy; his heart was pounding. However, the adrenaline was fading fast, leaving his legs weak and his mind spinning. For the past few hours, he had been on the run from the police. But he couldn’t last longer. Had he escaped them?

Dropping onto the ground, he spent a moment trying to calm down. As his body ached and his mind grasped for sleep, he tried distracting himself by reviewing his path. He had once been a noted Pokemon thief, snatching Pokeballs straight from their unsuspecting Trainer’s belts. He would then hack into the Pokeball and change the Trainer ID to one of his many pseudonyms. With that done, he would then sell the Pokemon to black market dealers, who always paid him generously for his efforts. And he had been good too, able to track a Trainer to see what the most optimal target would be, gain the luckless kid’s trust, then snatch the ball and be gone before he was suspected. It wouldn’t be too hard to just change his identity and go back to the game.

That is, if he could figure out where he’d gone wrong. One of his fake IDs had been caught at a security checkpoint, so he slammed the guard into a post and bolted. The police were soon after him, chasing him down with bikes and fast Pokemon. When they brought out the helicopter, he had forced his mind to blank out (to fool their psychics and Psychics), then dashed for a heavily wooded area. That usually worked.

Not this time. One of the pursuing Pokemon was a Poochenya, a small rough-looking black canine that he had expected to lose easily. But the Poochenya was surprisingly persistent. It chased him through the wooded paths, keeping an even pace behind him. Any time the thief stopped, the Poochenya would soon be there, barking and baring its teeth at him. Knowing that the police trained their Pokemon to incapacitate humans if need be, the thief decided to keep running.

He spotted some carcasses and changed his path to jump over them. The hope had been that the Poochenya would be distracted with the meat. However, that did not work. As soon as he slowed, he heard the yips and barks just behind him. Then the thief tried confusing the Pokemon by changing directions rapidly, seemingly at random. The Poochenya wasn’t fooled and still remained on the trail.

Finally, the thief had jumped into a large pond and swam all the way across. The water should have dispersed his scent, but he decided not to risk it. After crossing the pond, he started running as hard as he could, heading deeper into the wild forest. If he could find a Route nearby, he might be able to flag someone down and beg for assistance. He didn’t like humbling himself like that, but it would certainly throw the police off his trail.

The Route did not appear, though, and now the thief was exhausted. Night had fallen and he was unable to run any longer. But it should have been enough, he told himself. He could sleep… his body desired sleep now more than his greed had ever desired money. It should have been enough.

There was a growl in the darkness. Tensing and feeling a throb of pain for it, the thief looked around. There was a mass of trees around this small rock ledge he was next to which obscured anything above him. All the bushes and wild undergrowth further hindered his view of the land around him, like the rock hid anything that was on top of the ledge. Clasping his water and sweat soaked clothes, the thief hoped that it was some wild Pokemon.

On the path that he had come from, there was a scruffy black Poochenya, its dark eyes piercing through the night’s gloom. Some parts of its fur looked damp and its paws were muddy. It walked over to him with its tail held high, showing no signs of the exhaustion that still claimed the thief’s body. Most telling, it wore a blue collar with a freshly dirty police tag on the front.

So it had been futile. Perhaps his weariness had affected his head, but the thief found himself smiling bitterly. “You finally caught me, huh?” the human asked. “After we run a ******* marathon through the trees, including a pond, you’re still full of pep and I can hardly move. ****.” He looked down and hit his fist into his leg.

The Poochenya trotted up to him, no longer growling or barking. Either it was tired or it was taunting him. Perhaps the latter, as it sat down and made an exaggerated yawn, curling its pink tongue at the tip. The thief tried to will himself into a second wind. Now that the Poochenya was off guard, he could maybe hit it in the head with a rock, then start running again. A little rough, but he didn’t care. Pokemon were just a means to an end to him.

As the second wind struggled to come along, the thief began to reach out for a nearby rock. It was just small enough to fit in his hand, but rough and large enough to do some damage. However, the Poochenya noticed that. It growled and got up, taking a few steps towards the thief. It was a Dark Pokemon, so maybe it had thought of that tactic too.

Not feeling any energy coming back, the thief obediently dropped his hand to his side. Inwardly, he cursed the Poochenya’s ability to sense even his plans. The canine Pokemon then pushed the rock out of his reach with its head, then made a check around him in case any other potential natural weapons were about. After pushing those out of the way, the Poochenya went back in front of the thief and sat down.

The thief tried to glare, but didn’t feel angry enough to be effective. He wanted to drop down and go to sleep. Still, he struggled against it in case he got another chance to run. “What do you want?” he grumbled. “You caught up with me, so shoo. Your Trainer will take forever to get here. Scram, mutt.”

Other than a twitch of the upright ears, the Poochenya didn’t respond.

“I’m not going to give up,” he boasted. But it was an empty one. The thief made the mistake of letting his eyes close, thinking he could be calm for a minute, then get the energy to run again. Once his vision was cut out, his mind decided to shut down as well. He was asleep in seconds.

The Poochenya watched him for a moment, then scratched its shoulder. It spun around for a bit, trampling down a flat space. Once it was suitable, it lay down to rest itself. However, the police Pokemon did not allow itself to sleep. It stayed with its head up, watching the thief in case of trouble.

Two hours later, the police officers managed to get a vehicle into the area to arrest the slumbering thief. The Poochenya wagged its tail proudly at its Trainer, who scratched it behind its ears. Once again, it had done a good job.

...

Poochenya FR/LG entry: It has a very tenacious nature. Its acute sense of smell lets it chase a chosen prey without ever losing track.

Pokedex OS- Still trying to capture every single Pokemon out there in words: 648/718 Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh complete!

This was partly inspired by a good friend of mine who recently had surgery on her hand.

In Process: Piplup
On Deck: Glameow/Piplup

Parasect

Mush the Parasect looked over his right claw. Yesterday, it had been in a lot of pain. It had happened in a battle when he had tried attacking a Steel Pokemon with that claw. It might have worked, but he was an old Pokemon and his claws ached with a mild arthritis every morning already. That attack had popped the joint out of place and ripped a muscle. As even a Hyper Potion couldn’t fix a torn muscle like that, Mush had endured horrible pain.

Today, his right claw was numb. He’d just returned home from a surgery to correct the problem and the anesthesia they’d used was still affecting him. The doctor had put exoskeleton cement on the surgical cuts, then bound it tightly in white gauze. As a result, his claw was stiff enough that he couldn’t move it.

There was something unexpected and odd there, though. On the edge of the bindings, there was a black marking which formed a ‘J. L.’ on his claw. Those would be the initials of the surgeon. Why had he done it? Was he particularly proud of how this operation had gone? Or was it so that the Pokecenter would recognize it as surgical scars?

“You need to take it easy today, Mush,” his Trainer said as she arranged his freshly cleaned bedding. “Don’t move that claw too much. In fact, you should just nap to help yourself heal faster. There you go, buddy.”

Mush clicked an agreement. Even though his claw wasn’t hurting now, he felt off-kilter from the anesthesia. Plus, he hadn’t been able to sleep well since that battle. Now he could rest freely. He clambered into the shallow box that made up his bed, stomping down the yellow blanket to his liking. Then he snuggled down and prepared to sleep.

After making sure he would rest, his Trainer went into her office to get some work done. The small house grew quiet then. The window was open, letting in the sound of bird Pokemon singing and other Bug Pokemon chirping. It was relaxing. Mush could close his eye sand just fall into dreamland…

This place is too dry, too bright.

Mush opened his eyes back up. Too bright? It was like normal. But then, he often got impulses to avoid sunlight. In a way, it was good because he tended to have dry skin that burnt easily. He was inside, so it shouldn’t be a problem. And it really wasn’t too dry.

Too bright, too dry.

Feeling somewhat irritated, the Parasect got out of his bed and crawled over to the window. He reached out with his right claw… no, he couldn’t use that now. Even if he could move it, he shouldn’t. He reached out with his left claw and grabbed the bottom of the curtain, then pulled it across. There, that blocked the light. This room wasn’t too bad when he usually slept here, but that was usually at night.

The pinstripe brown curtain cut out a lot of light, darkening the room considerably. It also stopped the breeze and lessened the relaxing outdoor sounds. But that was okay. Now, he could rest. He got back into his bed, spent a moment settling again, then dropped down and closed his eyes.

This place is too dry. And it could be darker.

Huh? It was good. With his favorite blanket clean and the air quieter (and darker), he should be able to sleep easily. But something in his mind was not satisfied.

In fact, the dissatisfaction was all too familiar. It came from the large spotted mushroom that encased most of his body. That mushroom contributed a lot to his powers, especially when it came to status spore attacks. But from time to time, it was enough of a hassle that he would wish it wasn’t there.

You need me. It is too dry.

Grumbling, Mush tried to snuggle deeper into his bed. He needed to be resting after his surgery and the mushroom was stubbornly fighting it. And why? Because it couldn’t stand any humidity level under fifty percent! And sometimes it even complained about moisture levels higher than that, as not high enough. Mush himself wasn’t picky, but his mushroom was.

You need to be in high humidity. It will help you.

That would help it, he thought defiantly. Then he tried to block out the mushroom’s prodding thought.

After a moment, he found himself getting up and leaving his bed. Not again… Mush ordered his legs to stop moving. They slowed at first, only to pick back up. On leaving the room, the mushroom wasn’t happy with the sunlight streaming in the windows. It was bugged enough at the dry air that it moved through the sunny room into the kitchen.

Mush recognized where it was headed. Not there! He tried to regain control of his body more forcefully. He had cloth bandages on his claw! If those got damp or dirty, then an infection might get in past his exoskeleton. And that wouldn’t be good for him or the mushroom, so they should go back to the clean bedding and sleep there.

The mushroom wouldn’t listen to reason, of course. It wasn’t even a true plant, he thought bitterly. Just a simpler fungus. However, the simple mushroom didn’t even understand insulting thoughts. It was only obsessed with keeping conditions optimal for it and nothing else. It didn’t even care about his well-being and comfort.

Past the kitchen, they came to the basement door. The mushroom at least had the sense to use his left claw to pull the door open. Then it brought him downstairs. Although some repairs had been done in the past, the basement wasn’t perfectly sealed. That let in the dampness that the mushroom adored. Plus, the scattered small windows kept it very dark. The mushroom poked about until it came to a worktable. It decided the best place to rest was right underneath.

The floor was hard concrete, dusty and cool. Around the table, there were large tools and plastic storage containers. It was all gray, brown, black, or ugly green, not like the nicely decorated main floor. There was nothing of comfort here, save for the mushroom’s lack of complaints.

Mush sighed. He had already had a bad day; the surgery had made him all nervous, while having his claw broken had been terribly stressful. Now that the ordeal was over, he wanted to relax in his comfy bed with his favorite blanket. Instead, the mushroom had forced him down to this dingy and mildly threatening basement.

What could he do about it? The mushroom would just overtake him again and bring him back down here. Mush settled down, but didn’t feel happy.

Before he got to sleep, he heard footsteps on the stairs. Tensing, he tried to creep back into the shadows. His Trainer turned on the light, though, and quickly spotted him. “Mush! You’re not supposed to be down here.”

He whined. It wasn’t his fault! It was the dumb mushroom who ruled so much of his life. Even if it was strong and helped make him powerful, he still hated it at times like this.

The woman shook her head. “I’m not supposed to do this, but all well.” She returned him to his Pokeball.

Inside, he found himself in the shade of a tall dying tree. The ground was damp and almost marshy. Again, this would be the mushroom’s doing. The smell of the weakened wood stirred his hunger, even though he knew it wasn’t real. The mushroom didn’t realize that and made him snip off a bit to eat.

When he came back out of his ball, he was back in the bedroom by his bed. This time, his Trainer had plugged in a humidifier and closed the window. “I figured the dry air might be bothering you,” she said. “I didn’t think you’d go down to the basement so fast. This should fix that problem. So please, stay in your proper bed and rest.”

Mush paused for a moment, to see if the mushroom would be unreasonable as usual. But it seemed that the humidifier had appeased it some. After taking a moment to tap his left claw on his Trainer’s shoe, he climbed back into the shallow box. It was so nice to snuggle into his yellow blanket, which always reminded him of better days. Once he closed his eyes, he was fast to fall asleep.

...

Parasect Heart Gold entry: It stays mostly in dark, damp places, the preference not of the bug, but of the big mushroom on its back.

Pokedex OS- Still trying to capture every single Pokemon out there in words: 648/718 Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh complete!

Never thought of the mushroom controlling Parasect like that. I somehow always saw it more as it just changed Parasect's personality, rather than controlling Parasect against its will. I think. Never gave that issue too much though.

Wow, been ages since I posted here...
While I might not have been posting my reviews I have still followed them. Great job, blah,blah,blah, now for my greatest question so far. What are you going to do next? Sure your going to be finishing this and Six Spirit, but what comes next?? What is going on in your brain? What is your next trick???

2012 is coming weather the world will end or not the question is the same... Do You Have A Plan?*Warning! Warning!*
I pretend to be a time-traveling Pikachu when posting, however I will lower my act every once in a while. Please do not try to trip me up or explain how its stupid.

Brass instruments were trumpeting, woodwinds were fluting, percussions were drumming and clanging and ringing… it was a grand parade and the Glacier Bay High School Marching Band had come all the way from Canada to participate. They all wore bright costumes of sea blue, pale blue, and golden yellow, with tall hats and lots of pompoms. This was a huge event, televised all over the world, so the band students were all focused on doing their best.

With them were two Pokemon: the school’s macot in an Empoleon named Missy and her son Piplup, called Jim. Jim was so excited about the parade that he wouldn’t let anybody carry him. Nope, he was going to march the entire way himself, just like the band. It was a long way, over a mile, and the pavement felt weird under his webbed feet.

But worst of all was when he tripped. It happened a lot, as he was trying to keep up with the band’s pace. However, he was much smaller than they, and his waddle wasn’t conducive to marching. As he felt right on his beak for the hundredth time (so it seemed), Jim did his best to get right back up and keep marching. He pushed his hat up off his face, then walked into the drummer he was right behind. Thankfully, that didn’t cause a big disaster. Jim backed up while the students began a routine for stopped moments like this. Knowing that his mother was watching close behind him, the Piplup stood up straight and proud. His kind were noble Pokemon, so Missy said, so he was going to be a good example of that.

A rude honking noise interrupted the band’s song. Jim turned around to see that one of the members of the group behind them had pedaled past the banner carriers. Wearing clown makeup, a big curly green wig, and a round red nose, the Ambipom was riding a unicycle while holding six green batons with shiny ribbons in the two hands on its tails. He pushed one of the batons into his nose, making it honk again, and grinned.

Show-off. Jim turned back to the band while the Ambipom wheeled around and started juggling his batons. He was good at keeping pace with the band’s beat and baton twirlers, but he was completely the wrong color for the school. When the parade got marching again, the Ambipom did not go back for some reason. It staying pedaling alongside the band.

“Pretty good kids you got in this band,” the Ambipom said in the Pokemon language.

Jim nodded in approval. “They’re the best.”

“I don’t know about that.” He wheeled around to the other side of Jim. “So little ole you thinks he can march the whole parade route, huh?”

“Of course I can,” Jim said. But as he started to look at the Ambipom, he slipped on a large piece of pink confetti and stumbled once again.

“Oh really?” he asked sarcastically. “You’ll end up with lots of bruises.”

Getting back up, the Piplup bushed his pale blue chest off, then continued marching. “I can do it and I will.”

“You aren’t as dexterous as I am,” the Ambipom boasted, twirling a baton while continuing to juggle the other five and controlling the unicycle. Oddly enough, the only thing he was doing with his actual hands was keeping balance. “I’m doing a lot more work than you, but I won’t be bruised and battered by the end of this.”

“I finish everything I start,” Jim stated. “And I’m proud of it.” No matter how tough it was, now matter how rough the bruises would get, he would finish. And for a Pokemon of his size (and lack of grace…) to make a mile plus march, that was tough.

“Hmm.” He turned his unicycle about, but instead of leaving the band, he started pedaling backwards. “Perhaps we ought to trade costumes, as you would be more fitting as the clown.”

At that, Missy clapped one of her flippers against her side. “Watch yourself, Ambipom,” she snarled, looking quite intimidating with her crown horns shining. “I don’t want to start a fight in this parade, but if you continue to insult my son, I will not let it go unpunished.”

The Ambipom laughed nervously as he looked up at the taller Pokemon. His curly wig trembled. “Heh heh, just having some fun with you guys. I am the clown, after all. But the little guy might find this parade too much to handle.”

“He can finish it,” Missy stated, as confident as Jim. “Whether Piplup or Empoleon, we will not stoop to looking helpless.”

“Even if it makes you look foolish?’ Then he laughed again, trying hard to make it a joke. “Okay, okay. I get the picture.” After catching his batons, the Ambipom honked his nose twice, then pedaled back to his group.

Jim was quite bruised and sore by the end of the parade route. But he had made it the full way on his own two feet. For that, he got the special treat of a bubble bath.

...

Piplup Platinum entry: A poor walker, it often falls down. However, its strong pride makes it puff of its chest without a care.

Empoleon HG/SS entry: It avoids unnecessary disputes, but it will decimate anything that threatens its pride.

Platinum entry: Split in two, the tails are so adept at handling and doing things, Ambipom rarely uses its hands.

(If Glacier Bay High School is a real place… I wouldn’t know it.)

Pokedex OS- Still trying to capture every single Pokemon out there in words: 648/718 Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh complete!

“Lileep originally came from the Mezutamzoic era, over a hundred million years ago, when the oceans were much larger and warmer. They lived in shallow seas with sandy beds, much like this display area, where they blended into seaweed to hunt for small fish. Although they were made of rock-like materials, they still had predators that would kill them if they moved about too much, another reason they have for staying undetected. Several fossils of Lileep were recently discovered to have enough DNA to revive, which is how our aquarium came to have this group of Pokemon. Some Trainers have been known to use them, and they…”

A group of schoolchildren stood around, bored while on their aquarium tour. Right by them, there was the surface of a salt-water ocean habitat tank, where a group of five Lileep were grouped. Some of the girls had thought they were pretty initially, with pink tentacles around a brown stem that appeared much like an exotic sea flower. As the tour guide stated, the Lileep were not doing anything. They swayed with the flow of the water, as did the simpler seaweeds around them. One Lileep was separated from the rest, having climbed out of the water to hang out under a sunlamp. But even on the mottled rock, it did not do anything interesting.

“When are we going to get to the interesting exhibits?” one of the boys grumbled quietly.

“Probably not until the end,” another whispered back. “And we won’t get long to look.”

“And this was supposed to be a good trip.”

“Be quiet,” their teacher said, walking by them.

“All right,” the one boy replied, turning to her.

But right as he looked away, the Lileep on the rock decided that was the time to move. It leaned over quickly and snatched the boy’s baseball cap off his head with its tentacles. The kids who saw this started laughing, amused at the break of tension.

The boy spun back around, putting his hands on his head. “Hey! Give my hat back!”

Chuckling, the tour guide said, “It may have thought your hat was something to eat. But they usually eat things whole.”

His face paled. “I want my hat!”

Patting the hat with its tentacles, the Lileep tested the hat to see if it was edible. Apparently it wasn’t good, because the Pokemon then spit the hat back out at the boy, hitting him in the face. Quite a bit of slobber ended up all over the boy’s face, and soaking the hat.

“Ewww,” some of the kids near him said, while others laughed gleefully.

The boy grabbed at his hat before it hit the floor. “Gross, now my hat is ruined.”

“You’d better go back to the bathroom and clean that spit off,” the tour guide said. “Leave it on too long and it’ll become irritating.”

As the teacher led the boy away, the smartest girl in the class asked, “Isn’t its spit part of its digestive fluid, so it could eat holes in his hat?”

“That could happen,” the tour guide said. “The Lileep’s stomach is just past its mouth, in this bulbous area.” She tapped the area behind where the wide tentacles were hanging. “But don’t go touching it like I do. As a prehistoric Pokemon, its mind is not as developed as current day Pokemon and it will not recognize your hand as something not to eat. You have to become familiar to it before you can do this safely.”

“What kind of Trainers actually use this kind of Pokemon?” one student asked. “I mean, they aren’t doing much, so how good are they in battle?”

“They actually have very good endurance, especially after evolution,” the tour guide said. “Generally only fossil hunters have access to them, but the most famous Trainer of the higher form of Cradily is Steven Stone, former Champion of Hoenn. Although you kids would have to wait a few years to train any Pokemon, the Lileep might be more commonplace. We do have a Cradily around, but it might be further down the tank. Do you want to go find it?”

The response wasn’t completely enthusiastic, but they needed to stall a bit for the teacher and student to get back to the group. In the meantime, the sunning Lileep observed the crowd, looking for any more potential food sources. In its primitive mind, it considered the children too large to eat. The Cradily might be able to snag one of them. However, the tour guide wouldn’t let the kids anywhere close to that one if it was out hunting. Even in captivity, it was still deeply wild.

...

Lileep Emerald entry: It disguises itself as seaweed by making its tentacles sway. Unsuspecting prey that come too close are swallowed whole. It became extinct a 100 million years ago.

Last edited by Ysavvryl; 12th September 2010 at 8:34 PM.

Pokedex OS- Still trying to capture every single Pokemon out there in words: 648/718 Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh complete!

The castle was busy this week, which wasn’t so good for Rachel. She scurried along the halls, trying to avoid being seen by the patrolling guards. From under a side table, the Rattata watched as yet another pair walked by. Ugh, it had been so hard to find food. But there wasn’t much she could do about it. The human king was searching for a bride, and thus many women were staying here for the month.

And they were so rude, Rachel thought. She’d been screamed at, had things thrown at her, and had several Pokemon attack her, seemingly just because she was there. Normally, this was a great place to scavenge food, which is why she remained. But she didn’t want to have to run and snatch snacks all the time.

Once the guards were gone, Rachel came back out and began sniffing about. Something smelled good in a room close by: some crackers, sausages, and cheese. But there were also smells of a human and an unfamiliar Pokemon. Maybe if she was careful, she could get some little bit. Especially if something had fallen to the floor.

She came through the doorway and peered around. It was a bedroom, being used by one of the potential brides. Thus, it was quite lavish, decorated with flowers. Rachel started to head for the wardrobe, which had a crawl space she could fit under. But a flash of violet sprang, trapping her under a strong paw.

Squeaking in alarm, she tried to struggle around so she could bite her attacker. “Eek, leave me be! I’m not doing anything wrong.”

“You’re not where you’re supposed to be,” the feline Pokemon responded, slowly extending her claws to press against the Rattata’s skin. “I don’t like others sneaking about my place.”

The human then responded, in a gentle scold. She came over, but didn’t seem scared. Once she encouraged the feline to let Rachel go, she looked over the smaller Pokemon.

“Hmph,” the feline said, sitting back in a proud position. “She’s had mercy on you, Rattata, so be grateful.”

“R-right, I am,” Rachel replied. She looked at the foreign Pokemon with the long corkscrew tail. “What are you?”

She twitched her whiskers. “I am a Glameow, peasant. I’m Miss Glinda, favored Pokemon of the Lady Calahan. So what are you doing here?”

“I came looking for some food,” she replied. And as if the human was reading her mind, Lady Calahan soon had a cracker, piece of sausage, and slice of cheese by her. The Rattata curled her tail in delight. “Oh! Thank you, lady. My name’s Rachel.” Then she started nibbling at the offered food.

“Shouldn’t that be Ratchel?” Glinda taunted.

She rolled her eyes. “I know, I’ve heard that joke a thousand times by now. No, I’m Rachel. That’s how it’s always been. So are you two here about the king?”

The Glameow nodded once. “Right. And this is very important for my lady, so you’d better not nibble any holes in her clothing or the like.”

After swallowing a bit of sausage, Rachel said, “It’s important for all of them, I think. Everyone’s tense.”

“Hmm.” Surprisingly, the proud cat’s ears tilted down. “That could be bad. My lady has been searching for a husband for some time, ever since her father’s house burned down. We cannot rely on her family any more, so if we do not find her someone appropriate to marry, we’ll likely end up on the streets.”

“That is bad.” Rachel nibbled at the cheese, then got an idea. “You know, you’ve been the first folks nice to me this week. Well, she has at least. Certainly most people wouldn’t just give me food.”

“You are a common Rattata,” Glinda said, holding her nose in the air.

She brushed some food bits off her muzzle. “That may be, but I live in the palace. I observe things in hiding and I know the people here. Including the king.”

That got her interest. “Really? Well Pokemon and humans can’t understand each other normally, but my lady and I have been together for years. I can communicate things to her. May we ask for your assistance?”

Smiling, Rachel nodded. “Sure, if I get more food every now and then. Did you hear that the king has gone off on a two day hunt?”

Looking annoyed, Glinda raised a paw, showing her claws. “Yes… so very rude of him. I hope that isn’t a sign for the future.”

Rachel shrugged. “I’m afraid that’s how it is. The king loves going on hunts. He’s planning on throwing a feast and a ball with what he catches this time. Did you get word that he will be asking for gifts to show what the women can offer him?”

“Right. I just hope he returns the favors to the woman he chooses. We can’t afford a wasted gift.”

“Well the king admires the tapestries hanging in the halls, and often orders new ones. She may not be able to get an entire tapestry done, but if she does a little sampler of the king at the hunt, he would appreciate that.”

“Is that so? At least that’s something she likes to do. Getting the idea across, that could be tricky. Stay here, if you will.” The Glameow then hopped onto the bed, where Lady Calahan was sitting. Glinda nudged the tin of sewing supplies until the human looked at it thoughtfully. “What does he like to hunt?”

Rachel took a few hops towards then, gripping the last of the cheese. “Dangerous ones, mostly. I believe he was going to look for wild Tauros this time.”

“Hmm…” Glinda went to an open book and pawed at the pages. Maybe there was a picture there.

Looking between the Pokemon and the book, the lady got an idea. She laughed happily, then snatched up a red ribbon and came back to Rachel. The Rattata was nervous, but all the young woman did was tie the red ribbon around her tail. It was nice, so Rachel left it on.

Rachel spent the next day around the kitchens, but when the king returned with his hunting party, she came in to see how Lady Calahan’s gift fared. However, she couldn’t get too close as there were too many people and Pokemon around. She did notice when the king picked out the lady and a few others for some purpose, then sent everyone off. The Rattata quietly trailed Calahan.

They ended up in a wardrobe closet. Glinda the Glameow had settled by the doorway she had her eyes partly closed and was purring contentedly. However, she still noticed the careful rodent Pokemon. “Oh, it’s you Rachel.”

She smiled. “Hi Glinda. How’re things going?”

“Decent enough. The king was pleased with my lady’s embroidery and talked for a good length of time with her. Now he’s sent a number of our rivals home while asking us to stay for the ball. It seems that he has even offered to give my lady her choice of the dresses here as she has few clothes of her own.” Her whiskers twitched. “Now, of course, we have to find one that the king will like.”

“Oh yes, that is a problem.”

Lady Calahan then came over to Glinda, whistling in a particular manner. She then noticed Rachel, still wearing the red ribbon on her tail. Smiling, she knelt down and patted her back, careful not to get nipped at. Then she offered a piece of rye bread that she had saved.

Squealing happily, Rachel took a large bite of it. After swallowing it, she said, “Wonderful! This is my favorite bread, you know. Your lady is very kind.”

“She is a little soft-hearted around small Pokemon,” Glinda admitted.

“I can help you with the dress in exchange,” Rachel said. “Lots of women fail to get his attention because they try too hard. He’s rather a prude, believe it or not, and dislikes low necklines or much skin showing. And he likes women who wear pearls. I’m not sure if it’s the type or woman who would wear them or if it’s the pearls, but most women he reacts favorably too are wearing them, I notice.”

“That helps. Why don’t you stick around and help me help her?”

“Sure. I like her.” Rachel then scampered up the wooden pole onto the rack where the dresses hung and looked around. Glinda walked by her lady’s side and offered comments as Lady Calahan pulled dresses out to try. Thankfully, she didn’t seem too drawn to the flashy dresses that would bother the king.

Eventually, they found a dark blue dress that had a chest piece with small pearls sewn into it. Lady Calahan picked that one, then opened her hand up to Rachel. She said something in a soothing tone.

“I believe she appreciates your help,” Glinda said. “And she’s offers to take you back to our room. I’m not sure about becoming buddies with a common rodent, though I greatly appreciate your insight and helpfulness as well.”

Rachel giggled as she hopped onto the lady’s hand. “I think you’d like to be my friend more than you say,” she countered. “And I don’t mind being taken in as a pet. It means better food more often.”

The Glameow smirked, but twirled her tail about. “Well if we’re going to get food regularly, you’d better hope the king picks my… our lady as his bride.”

Although it took another week, in which Rachel offered suggestions and Glinda got the ideas through to the human, Lady Calahan was picked to be the king’s bride and soon-to-be queen.

...

Glameow Diamond entry: It claws if displeased and purrs when affectionate. Its fickleness is popular among some.

Rattata Soul Silver entry: Living wherever there is food available, it ceaselessly scavenges for edibles the entire day.

Pokedex OS- Still trying to capture every single Pokemon out there in words: 648/718 Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh complete!